Moss feeder and cleaner



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April 1, 1930.

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Patented Apr. 1, 1930 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN W. ROSSON, OF MORGAN CITY, LOUISIANA MOSS FEEDER AND CLEANER Application filed March 11, 1929. Serial No. 346,235.

10 fingers to pass through the moss on its way through the passage, these fingers acting to pull the moss apart. 1

This invention also consists in certain other features of construction and in the com- 15 bination and arrangement of the several parts, to be hereinafter fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings and specifically pointed out in the appended claims.

In describing the invention in detail, reference will be had to the accompanying drawings wherein like characters denote like or corresponding parts throughout the several views, and in which Figure 1 is an elevation of the invention arranged between two gins.

Figure 2 is a vertical sectional view through the device.

Figure 3 is a horizontal sectional view. Figure 4 is a section on line 14 of Figure 2. I

Figure 5 is a section on line 5-5 of Figure 2. a

Figure 6 is a detail view showing how the cam engages the lever. 1

In these views, the letter A indicates a casing arranged between the gins B. These'gins may be of any type and are used to separate fibres or threads of the tangled mass of moss placed in the same, and to remove foreign matter therefrom, these gins being somewhat similar to the old fashioned wool pickers. VA slotted partition 1 is horizontallyarranged in the casing and forms a chamber in the bottom thereof through which the moss passes from the discharge 2 of the front gin to the inlet 3 of the rear gin. This partition may be formed of a plurality of longitudinally extending bars spaced apart. A frame C is arranged in the lower chamber and forms the bottom of the passage for the moss, this frame being composed of a plurality of longitudinal- 1y extending bars 4 and cross bars 5, with upwardly and rearwardly extending fingers 6 on the bars 4. A horizontal plate 7 is arranged at the rear of the casing below the inlet 3, upon which the rear end of the frame C is slidably supported, and a shaft 8 is connected with the front end of the frame, this shaft passing through the slots 9 formed in the sides of the casing and each end of the shaft is connected with the lower end of a lever 1O pivoted intermediate its ends to the side of the casing, as shown at 11. The lower portion of each lever is pivoted to the front end of a casing 12 slidably arranged on a rod 13, the rear end of the rod being pivoted to a side of the casing, as shown at 1 1. A spring 15 is arranged in each casing and bears against the rear end ofthe casing, and a head 16 on the front end of the rod so that the spring tends to hold the casing in a position with the lower end of its lever in its rearward position, so that the shaft 8 engages the rear end of the slot 9. v A shaft 17 passes through the casing adjacent its front end and has cams 18 adjacent its ends which engage the upper ends of the levers 10 so that the rotary movement of the shaft will rock the levers and-thus cause a reciprocatory movement of the frame O, the springs 12 holding the upper ends of the levers against the cams. As shown in Figure 2, the front end of the frame C is lower than its rear end.

A frame D is arranged in the upper chamber of the casing, said frame being composed of a plurality of longitudinally extending bars 19 fastened to the transversely arranged shafts 20, each shaft having a tube 21 thereon for preventing the moss wrapping itself around the shaft and these tubes can also be used for holding the bars 19 in spaced relation. Each shaft has its ends connected with the ends of a pair of arms 22, each arm being connected to the inner end of a stub shaft 23 journaled in each side of the casing and a crank 2 1 is connected with the outerend of each shaft, these cranks being connected by a link 25 to a crank 26 formed on each end of the shaft 17, so that as said shaft 17 rotates, the links 15 will impart a rotary movement to the shafts 23 and thus the arms 92 will be rotated so that the shafts 20 will revolves in a circular pa -h and thus cause the frame B to oscillate in upper and lower planes. The arms are weighted, as at 27, to counterbalance the weight of the frame and the bars 19 of the frame are each provided with a row of teeth or prongs 28, the prongs gradually decrc '11 length from the front to the rear of the frame.

Thus it will be seen that the frame B will be moved toward the front of the casing and then the frame ill he moved downwardly so that portions theieof wiii pass through the spaces between the bars of the partition 1, with the prongs 28 en a ing the moss on the frame G. Then the ii are H is moved rearwardly, causing the moss to move with it and then the frame moves upwardly so that the prongs will pass above the partition, which acts to pull the moss from the prongs. At the same time, the frame C is being reciprocated and the arrangement of the fingers 6 will cause the moss to pass rearwardly during each rear part of the reciprocatory movement so that the moss will pass through the inlet 3 into the gin B. The prongs 28 not only impart movement to the moss, but'they also act to pull it apart and this action, combined with the shaking movement imparted to the moss by the movement of the frame C will remove trash, dirt, dust and other foreign matter from the moss, this matter dropping through the spaces in the frame 3 into the space beneath said frame C, from which it is drawn to a conduit 29 which is connected with a suitable suction device. The front gin creates a draft through the easing so that dust is removed from the casing and through the vent pipe which is connected with the top of the casing and this vent pipe ma lead through the roof of the building in w ich the apparatus is arranged.

The casing is provided with suitable doors 31 for permitting access to the various parts thereof.

Thus it will be seen that I have provided means whereby the moss is cleaned and pulled to a higher degree of cleanliness than is possible by passing the moss through gins and the device leaves the moss in a higher marketable condition than can be done by running the moss through two separate gins and at the same time gives a higher percentage of product from the same amount of rough or unginned moss. The device can be used with either one gin or two gins.

It is thought from the foregoing descriptlon that the advantages and novel features of the invention will be readily apparent.

It is to be understood that changes may be made in the construction and in the combination and arrangement of the several parts,

provided that such changes fall within the scope of the appended claims.

\Vhat I claim is 1. A device of the class described comprising a casing,a slotted partition therein, means for feeding the material to be treated into the front end of the casing under the partition, an outlet at the other end of the'casing, a slatted frame slidably supported under the partitionand receiving the material introduced into the casing, means for oscillating the frame, a frame supported for oscillatory movement in upper and lower planes in the upper part of the casing, said frame carrying a plurality of rows of prongs, with portions of the frame extending through the slots in the partitions as the frame is moving on its lower plane whereby the prongs will engage the material on the slatted frame and means for actuating the prong carrying frame whereby said frame and its prongs will move rearwardly when in its lower plane.

2. A device of the class described comprising a casing, a slotted partition therein, means for feeding the material to be treated into the front end of the casing under the partition, an outlet at the other end of the casing, a slatted frame slidably supported under the partition and receiving the material introduced into the casing, means for oscillating the frame, a frame supported for oscillatory movement in upper and lower planes in the upper part of the casing, said frame carrying a plurality of rows of prongs, with portions of the frame extending through the slots in the partitions as the frame is moving on its lower plane whereby the prongs will engage the material on the slatted frame, means for actuating the prong carrying frame whereby said frame and its prongs will move rearwardly when in its lower plane, a suction device connected with the rear part of the casing at the bottom thereof, a vent pipe connected with the top of the frame and means for connecting the inlet with a gin.

3. In combination with a pair of gins, a casing arranged under the gins, an inlet for the casingconnected with the front gin, an outlet for the casing connected with the rear gin, a slotted partition horizontally arranged in the casing and arranged above the inlet and outlet, a slat-ted frame slidably supported in the lower part of the casing and horizontally arranged and receiving the material from the inlet, said frame having upwardly and rearwardly extending fingers thereon, a frame composed of a plurality of horizontally arranged bars supported for oscillatory movement in two planes in the upper part of the casing, a row of prongs carried by each bar, portions of the bars and the prongs passing through the slotsin the partition when the frame is in its lower position, a pair of shafts passing through the prong carrying frame, stub shafts journaled in the sides of the easing, arms on the inner ends of the stub shafts, one end of each arm being connected with one end of each shaft, weights on the other ends of the arms, a drive shaft having cranks at its ends, links connected with the cranks, crank arms connected with the stub shafts and with the links, a pair of levers ivoted intermediate their ends to the sides 0 the casing, a shaft passing through the casing and connected with the lower ends of the levers, said shaft being connected with the front end of the slatted frame, cams on the drive shaft contacting the upper ends of the levers for reciprocating the slatted frame, spring means for holding the levers in engagement with the cams, a vent pipe connected with the upper end of the casing and a suction device connected with the rear of the casing at the bottom thereof.

JOHN W. ROSSON. 

